Wednesday, June 30, 2010

It's Another Day...

I admit it. Yesterday was a bit of an overloaded rant!

But sometimes, voicing your frustrations (at least for me) can put things into perspective, and I can move past whatever is FREAKING ME OUT for whatever reason, and put me in a place where I can tackle whatever the obstacle is.

In this case....it brought about THIS!

Has YOUR bin of strings run amok lately? LOL! Have you paid it mind or attention? Have you considered the possibilities?! This is what mine looked like after I'd been sewing from it, pulling from it, fluffing it about to find the right pieces and sewing into the late evening hours!

I have a couple of quilts on the brain that involve string piecing, and this is the kind of variety that is hard to pack away to take for a trip. Can you see me just filling a 50lb body bag with scraps and strings?! Well I could..it would be within the weight limits!

But I don't need it all. I need the neutrals for one quilt idea, and the blues/yellows/creams for the other. I'm going to sit in front of the TV and sort out the ones I need. I'm going to get some BIG ziplocks....and take just what I need to Oregon, instead of being overloaded and overwhelmed with too much too much too much!

I think I can do the remainder of the piecing for these designs with 2.5" strips and some FQs.....and I'll just sew as far as I can go, and if I run out of something, I'll just PLAY, right? Isn't that what a retreat week with girlfriends is for anyway?

I'm off to the gym for a workout with my trainer Charlee. She is in the process of buying a house, and I know there will be a housewarming quilt in there somewhere. I've got a top that can be rather quickly quilted and should foot the bill. You know, I seem to worry LESS when the recipient is not a quilter at all? Just loves quilts? They will be happy no matter what!

And I'll be back in the studio later....dealing with more of this mess!

When traveling - remember to check the airline regulations - my son and I just flew and when we flew OVER to Europe we were allowed 2 bags each, but on the way back the airline had changed to 1 bag each (we usually fly with 3 and I never pack them full, so I was able to just quickly repack and have 2 bags total, but still it was a bit of a pain!). I know just how you feel - it is very hard to pack a project when it is still at the scrappy, beginning stages.Cheers! Evelyn

My daughter and I are making money on Etsy with our itsy bitsy tiny scraps. I never throw any of them away...if it can't go in a quilt, it gets glued down or sewn down on paper. :) Thanks for the inspiration. You're a hero.

I heard you are coming to the Jacksonville, FL quilt festival. I went to a retreat a few weeks back and sat next to a guy who is on the board of directors. We talked about ou all weekend. Don't worry. It was all good. :)

I was happy to see your "string bin" because I just put my strings back in their place and they had looked just like that while I was sewing the blocks. I have been sidetracked to other projects but my string blocks keep calling me. I love sewing them because they are so restful: no pattern to follow.